Tips on drum booth

S

saul84aguilar

New member
Hello all
Needing some tips on setting up my drum booth
right now i have a 15' by 15' square room with a door
three of the walls are cinder block and one wall has not been built yet
the ceiling has ceiling tiles and one a/c vent


my question is how to go about designing and insulating my fourth wall and wall treatments, accoustics, traps, panels, etc... for the rest of the room and door?

If any more info is needed just let me know

Thanks
Mineros De La Sierra
 
the third wall is not up yet

should I just leave it open and add acoustic foam on the back side of the walls???
Is this what you mean
 
I can't tell you how much I hate drum booths! It's an old concept that amateurs think they need. Check out what is probably the most successful home recording studio of all time, Berry Gordy's house:

studioa_l.jpg

If people on this forum had a go at that studio they'd wreck it! I don't see any bass traps, clouds, drum booth... any of the stuff people say you "need".

At most, make a few dividers that you can move around in one big room.

The musicians should all be in the same room!
 
dintymoore said:
I can't tell you how much I hate drum booths! It's an old concept that amateurs think they need. Check out what is probably the most successful home recording studio of all time, Berry Gordy's house:

studioa_l.jpg

If people on this forum had a go at that studio they'd wreck it! I don't see any bass traps, clouds, drum booth... any of the stuff people say you "need".

At most, make a few dividers that you can move around in one big room.

The musicians should all be in the same room!
Click to expand...

Exactly.... you would want a nice "open" room, a booth if you think about voice overs it's a muffled interment sound, you don't want that in your drum mix especially when it comes to your overhead and room mics.
 
The space I have is more limited than the room pictured, with shorter ceilings would that make any difference?
Do the cinder walls need some sort of treatment

does that go the same for recording vocals, leave it in the open?
 
I like a vocal booth ...but that's just me. I believe others would agree.
you can achieve a booth with moving gobos that you can make yourself to create any size room you want including cover up the cinder block walls.
 
saul84aguilar said:
The space I have is more limited than the room pictured...
Click to expand...

And you're thinking of making it smaller?

Ask anybody who has a studio and they'd die for the ceiling height like Berry Gordy's. The high ceilings make the tail of the notes sound pleasant. I sure wish I had 'em.

In the end, what I do is listen to all kinds of opinions (there's no shortage!) and then do what I want. If you know inside that you want a drum booth - do it!

I worked in a great studio 30 years ago. They had a nice drum booth and we ripped it out. That's when drum booths were over for me. Do drummers really smell that bad??? :)

It looks like a booth on wheels in Berry's room (behind the drums). That's a neat concept. Or maybe just dividers that go up to chin level that you can see each other.

It is so important for all the players to be able to maintain eye contact!
 
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Thanks all appreciate your input
I like rolling panels
Now that i remember a studio i recorded at that is what they did with the drums.

How do you go about making those panels. I am guessing it is 2x8 or 2x6 construction, but what do you use for sound absorbtion. or where can i get some
 
saul84aguilar said:
Thanks all appreciate your input
I like rolling panels
Now that i remember a studio i recorded at that is what they did with the drums.

How do you go about making those panels. I am guessing it is 2x8 or 2x6 construction, but what do you use for sound absorbtion. or where can i get some
Click to expand...

There's a kazillion posts in this section of the forum on building materials for stuff like that. It could look nice with the right fabrics. Do yourself a favor and buy a $20 electric stapler if you plan on using one of the old Arrow ones.

I call the old ones "acoustic". Same as shaving and brushing your teeth, there's electric........................ and acoustic. :)
 
First, let me say that you should do your own research before you take any advice from someone who isn't extremely proficient with the principles, materials, and procedures you need to address these issues. There are some of those folks here, but I'm not one of them. You can waste a lot of money real quick doing this shit wrong.


With that said, don't get discouraged. Or, if you do, remember that you've got time to figure this out. It isn't going to happen in a day. Don't rush it. I studied here for two years before I ever did anything but record in a tuffshed.


Are we talking about isolating your drums so that they are quieter outside your studio, or are we talking about making sound great inside?

The former is exponentially more complicated and expensive than the latter.


Generally, you can't have too many bass traps, and let your floor remain reflective. Your ears aren't used to hearing high frequencies disappear into a carpet. It makes shit sound unnatural. Also, forget foam, carpet, and egg crates. They are fire hazards, and they don't really work. Think Great White, and boxy drums.

You are going to need lots and lots of broadband absorption in a room of those dimensions to get a really good room sound. Equal wall dimensions are going to give you more problems than you can deal with if you're serious about recording.

A best-case scenario would include non-parallel walls, and you could do that over one or more of your cinder block walls with standard construction and get good results, IIRC.


I bought lots of fancy 703 and 705 panels, but you could do it yourself for a third of the cost if you're willing to put in the work. Hanging panels on a ceiling sucks. In any case, you're going to want to cover as many corners as possible with 4" of OC 703 or it's equivalent. 703 is easier to work with than mineral wool (rockwool), but you can get similar results if you're up to the engineering challenge. In a pinch you could compress the fluffy stuff and make your own, for a less effective and attractive solution.


Try to let the panels stand off from walls and ceilings at least as far as the panel is thick. So the bottom of a four inch thick panel should hang eight inches from the ceiling. Straddling corners (wall to ceiling, wall to wall, tri-corners, etc.) automatically gives you a good cavity for the sound to resonate in.


Welcome to HR, and please post pictures as you go.


-SC
 
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